HELP! NM1 Labor Visa and Tax Exoneration

Good Evening! I have a quick question about taxes and how they pertain to my Labor Visa, aka NM1 Visa.

This morning at 8:30, I had my exoneration appointment with the Ministerio de Hacienda. I was granted the NM1 Visa on December 29, 2014, and my family and I moved to the DR on January 9th of this year. We had our container packed with our things, and it arrived to R?o Haina on February 4. I've been working with someone to help me sacar my mudanza.

I was informed by the lovely agent at Aduanas that I do not fulfill the requirements to have my taxes of $RD79,000 exonerated because I am not a resident. However, I do have an apartment contract, a bank account at Domincan Bank, a cell phone contract, an electric contract, a job, etc. How is it that I am being told that I must apply for residency so that I won't have to pay the taxes on the mudanza? Also, while my container sits in port, I must pay "alquiler" on the container for any additional day past 10 days. We are on day four of having to pay $RD2,000 per day plus ITBIS. Does all of this sound legit? If it is, will owe around $RD85,000.

My employer, a religious entity, has written a letter to Fernando Fern?ndez, General Director of Aduanas, for a special concession. Help!!!!!

Thanks!

It sounded legit; I just wanted to make sure before forking over a healthy sum of money. I appreciate your help. And concerning the exemption: I guess the lovely agent who helped me believes in fairy tales, as well. It was she who recommended such a request.

LicelotteM said:

The tax exemption to import household goods is being granted to all foreigners that can prove they are in the process of obtaining a residency permit. Usually, Aduanas will authorize the exemption if the applicant shows proof of the residency application from the Immigration Department, regardless of the type of residency (temporary or permanent).

Please note that a visa (NM1 or RS) is an authorization to enter the country to complete a residency application. The residency permits are processed and authorized by the Immigration Department, thus this is the only proving document accepted.

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The agent did inform me that if I had a request for residency or documentation that I was applying for Dominican Residency, such would suffice. My concern with the route is the time factor. My container has been at port for 15 days now (5 days over the grace period). However, am I reading your statement correctly? Am I understanding that an NM1 is sufficient to demonstrate that residency has been setup and that I am in the process, or do I need to have the document state that a request for residency has been submitted?

If I owe the taxes, I should pay. If there are legal and licit methods to avoid having to pay what many would term a large amount of taxes, I'd love to explore that route. My only limiting factor is time, and it may be worth it at this point to just pay the taxes. I greatly appreciate the help that everyone has been, and I'm sure that someone in the future will have the same challenge that I currently face. This thread will provide said person with much beneficial info. Un abrazo.

dv8 said:

gringonazo, even if you applied for residency now it takes time as you have to start the process from home country. pay the taxes as soon as possible before additional charges eat you up. why did you even bring a container if you plan to stay here for a limited time? how to you imagine the process of returning home with the container? normally folks buy here and sell before leaving thus avoiding problems.

mikefisher, NM1 is a work visa: www.gob.do - Visa NM1 de Negocios con fines laborales

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Our plan is to stay here indefinitely and apply for residency as soon as some of the dust has settled. At the recommendation of my employer, we applied for the NM1 with the expectation to apply for Residency within a reasonable amount of time.

To answer your question about why we chose to bring our stuff: Our shipper stated that we were entitled to a move free of taxes. I am a person who researches something to death, and I could not find anything to the contrary of our shippers statement concerning a tax free move. While compiling my budget for the move, I consulted with others who had moved from the US to the DR (personal friends). When I had come up with a rough estimate, I added 50% to that estimate. The advice throughout DR1 helped me establish that 50% bar.

As it turns out, I budgeted $6,000 for this move. Here is where I am thus far:

$3,295 Ground and Marine Freight from North Carolina to R?o Haina
$875 Palanca (Honorarium for Palanca, Inmigraci?n, Haina International, Transportation from port to dwelling)
$1,757.25 Taxes ($RD 78,768.29 Taxes on Items)
$75.98 Customs Service ($RD 3405.90)
$263.25 Space Rental at Port (5 days at $RD 2,360 per day)

As it stands today, I am at $6266.48. It looks like my budget was pretty much on target. The space rental is killing me, though. And I'm a bit frustrated at that. Our container arrived on Feb 4, and we weren't notified of its arrived until Feb 9. So, we lost five days.

Due to the fact that I'm pretty much on target with the budget (minus the storage rental), I'm not overly upset. It is paramount to ALWAYS overbudget and be pleasantly surprised than to underbudget and be upset. Especially here. You guys played a big part in this realization, and I am ever grateful to you. I hope this helps shed some light for someone who will pass through this same situation in the future.

dv8 said:

i see. in this case just chalk it to experience and move on.

btw, i am always a bit puzzled why do people come here with all their belongings. i had one suitcase of 32 kg and a bag with calvin and hobbes comic books. most of material stuff is replaceable. and lifespan of many items brought over can be remarkably short with heat, humidity and cleaning habits of dominican maids.

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In hindsight, it would have made more sense to do exactly what you did, but under the presupposition that we wouldn't have to pay taxes, we decided to bring our stuff. This, coupled with our expectation to be here for quite some time, led to our making such a decision. It probably wasn't the best decision, but we had padding in the budget to cover the cost.

I guess my counsel to anyone coming here (or whose situation is or will be similar to mine) is to always plan for the worst and expect the worst. Even when my shipper told me that I didn't have to pay taxes, something in the back of my mind told me that it was going to be a rather distinct possibility. So, we added 50% to the budget. Like any law-abiding person, I would do what I could to prevent paying such a large amount of taxes, but I have the money in my budget to do so because I planned. That is key...to plan. I can't stress enough my gratefulness to everyone here for your advice to always overestimate. Although picante and off-color sometimes, you guys are truly helpful.